Pieces of Puzzle
by Pi-Kyu
Summary: A lonely boy. A terrible past. An abandoned brother. How one girl work her way into his heart... and in his heart she stays. A novelisation of Mystic Messenger. I take creative liberties.
1. Messenger 1: Unknown

**A/N: I am terrible at finishing stories (just look at all my backlog le sigh). Here's hoping I'll finish this one, somewhat. This is a novelisation of the story, from my point of view. This may venture to the after ending. I do not own Mystic Messenger and all that jazz. Also check out my profile for facebook page, I draw. :D**

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 **Messenger 1: Unknown**

Three times. Three times she had to apologise that week to fuming, soda-drenched customers for something she did not do. But apologised she did as she bowed again and again, muttering strings of sincerity and promises of free meals and drinks for the negligence of her younger coworker. Such were the days of a college student who was struggling to pay her tuition fee; she had to rack up odd part-time jobs just to make ends meet. It was especially hard when she was trying to excel in college as well.

She heaved a sigh and continued to nudge the younger girl responsible for causing the scene. Hyun Ah, the younger coworker under her tutelage, merely grumbled and bowed her head low after much persuasion.

"Tsk, please accept my _humble_ apology sir."

The click of her tongue did not go unnoticed and of course, the customer was naturally livid. He slammed his hand hard at the bar counter and swept the remainder of his drink off as a show of displeasure, causing heads to turn before grumpily made his way to the exit. She winced at the damage but politely bowed once more as the man exited the cafe. The man however, did not leave without a final outburst.

" _This is worst café I have ever been! Best customer service, you piece of shits!"_

She felt the heat rushed to her face as she felt all eyes settled on her. Instead of panicking, she bowed low and shouted to the room in a forced cheerful voice.

"I apologise for the commotion ladies and gentlemen! Your first drink is on the house tonight!"

Everyone in the cafe cheered after her and the bartender took the opportunity to ring the bell. One day as the temporary store manager and this happened on her watch. So much for being the waitress of the month.

Feeling like she had at least restored the tense atmosphere, she turned her attention back to the younger waitress. "Hung Ah, can you not break any more glassware in this café? You are going to break every single one of them at this rate," she said firmly with a shake of her head.

"It wasn't even my fault," Hung Ah whined.

"Whose fault is it then?" Her eyes narrowed at the younger woman, unimpressed with her lie. This was not the first time it happened and she honestly doubt it will be her last either,

"That cutie over there," Hung Ah pointed and she pivoted on the spot to look at her 'source' of distraction. "He was staring intensely at me and I could not help it but swoon at the sight of him. He has the loveliest green eyes."

She frowned. Sitting on a table closest to the counter by himself, was a slender man trying to dab himself dry with serviettes; his baseball capped hid his upper features and he was dressed in complete black. Upon closer inspection, she realised that the poor customer was hit with the drink from the previous commotion.

"Oh my god, you wait here. Clean this up, I will attend to that customer instead," she insisted. Hung Ah gave a small groan.

Giving no chance for the younger girl to rebut, she swiftly grabbed the nearest wipe cloth and headed towards his table.

"Sir," she bowed sincerely. "I am really sorry about this," and handed more serviettes to the man. "Please let me help you clean up."

The man looked up from what he was doing and she immediately noticed his peculiar shade of eyes - mint green. His face was pale and delicate, his features were soft and he had streaks of pale bangs falling out from the corner of the cap. She found herself staring at the stranger for a moment and immediately broke the eye contact before proceeded to wipe the table, removing the stain as best as she could.

He continued to watch her with mild interest. The serviettes was left forgotten on his palm.

"Are you hurt sir?" She inquired once more after removing the last of the glass shards.

The man did not speak but stared intently at her. She could not help but felt creep out by his behaviour.

Not wanting to be a judgemental individual, she put on her best smile. "Sir?" she asked. "Would you like another drink? On the house."

The man took a moment to ponder her words, stood up wordlessly, left some cash on table and walked out the cafe. She huffed at his retreating figure and removed the empty bowl of chips.

"Sheesh, could have said something, weirdo," she muttered to herself.

Ever since the eventful day, the man frequented the cafe every second day and watched her closely from his favourite table at the back of the room. He would always order a glass of ice tea and just stare unnervingly at her throughout the day. He would sometimes tapped his phone silently for hours before rerouting his attention back to her working figure.

This first went unnoticed. Every staff member ignored the man, thinking he was just another stressed out student from the nearby college district. When this went on for another week and the female workers started to feel perturbed by his presence, it was up to her, the acting cafe manager to act. She immediately took up stance, assured the girls she would handle this and approached the man cautiously.

"Hey," she started, her brown eyes met his cold green orbs and she could feel him silently assessing her. "Sir, may I ask you -"

" _What is your name?"_ He spoke, catching her off guard completely. It was the first time he spoke to anyone in the shop.

"I am sorry?" She was thoroughly confused by his question. He however, gave her no time to recover from her initial shock.

" _Your name_ ," he repeated, slowly this time, his voice lack any emotion.

She blurted out " _Mi-Na_ " and smiled hesitantly at the man before her. "Written as 'elegant' in hanja characters. What is yours?" She found herself asking as her curiosity got the better hold of herself. What is she thinking? She should be kicking this man out of the cafe!

He smirked ever so slightly and stood up from his seat. He leaned in close and whispered in a small voice, his breath tickling the corner of her neck. "You shouldn't give your name to a total stranger, it is dangerous young miss."

The nerve of him! She ought to give him a piece of her mind!

The man pulled back and his expression merged back to a blank canvas, packed his belongings and handed some cash to her. He gave her a small nod and left the cafe. Well... _that went rather well_. At least he volunteered to leave without much hassle. She cleaned the previously occupied table and informed her colleagues that the deed was done. Everyone gave a small cheer and went back to work. She casually shrugged off the distinct feeling of being watched and settled back to her usual everyday routine - work from 9 to 1, classes from 1 to 6 and more work after class.

The man did not return to the cafe since that day and she felt all was right again.

It was in late July that she received a suspicious text from a total stranger about a misplaced cell phone. Being the honest person that she is, she agreed to head to the address and found herself breaking into the apartment with the password given to her. Once she was inside, her phone vibrated to life and she was suddenly thrown into a chat room full of strangers asking if she had just hacked into their chat room and worse, their acquaintance's apartment.

Mina slumped against the door and stared at her cellphone with a confused expression.

"What have I done?" She cried out loud. The silence of the apartment was not a comforting one.


	2. Messenger 2: Idol

**A/N: Tried portraying Mina (MC) as a sensible person in this chapter. Thank you for all the sweet reviews, it kept me going. ;)**

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 **Messenger 2: Idol**

Her phone rang haphazardly and the chat room that she unintentionally joined began to flood with messages questioning her identity. Her eyes glazed over the numerous texts and emoticons as she skimmed through them anxiously, hoping to find a way out of all the chaos. Would it work if she just exits the app? Or perhaps shutting down her phone would be a better option? She quickly typed: ' _Who are you all and what is this place?_ ' before trying brutishly for the doorknob.

It… was hopelessly locked.

She let out an exasperated cry and slumped back against the door.

The messages continued to pop but she paid no attention to them. She tried exiting the app but her phone seemed to have a mind of its own. There was no reception within the apartment so calling for help was out of the question.

Having her optimism for escape thwarted at every option, she began to feel the familiar feeling of panic rising up her chest and decided to focus on the messages instead. These strangers may be able to help her since they were certain of her location. Scrolling up to catch up with the conversation, she chuckled mirthlessly as each of them introduced themselves. They seemed like a friendly, albeit slightly odd, lot with no ill intention. She mouthed each of their names silently, pausing for a moment when user 707 posted each of their photos, memorised them according to their avatars and promptly typed:

 _I am flustered too. I was connected to a stranger through a messenger app and he sent me the address._

Mina frowned when the replies of her naivety came through. Only Zen seemed to find her adorable.

When 707 asked for the stranger's username or some sort of chat record, she immediately explained how she got herself into the situation, hoping against hope he could sense her discomfort and send help her way.

 _Unknown? You need an username to log on._

The collective yeses from the rest of the group only made her feel like a greater idiot. When 'Luciel' explained that she was currently locked inside apartment belonged to a woman named Rika, she quickly raised to her feet and fumbled around for the light switches. Bright lights engulfed the room and she found herself staring at a beautiful portrait of a young girl with the most charming smile. She then learned from V (the leader of the organisation who had just joined their conversation) that Rika once lived in the apartment and was the founder to the charity funding group known as R.F.A. They spoke volumes of her good deeds and she felt hesitant to take up her role when the question finally came around. She could never replace a dead person, that much was clear to Mina. The woman looked like a beautiful heaven-sent angel with flawless skin, fine nose and wide eyes. She was of great beauty and to have such a great personality on top of all… well, that was just too hard to live it down.

Intimidation aside, Mina studied the portraits slowly, eager to learn more about this capable woman whose life was immortalised by the photographs on the wall. Whoever that took these was a timing genius. Every smile, every frown, every falter in her grace were captured perfectly, a hauntingly beautiful collection of an angel who seemed more humane than she was made out to be. She honestly didn't think she had ever seen such a bittersweet wall. Clusters and clusters of photographs laid around the apartment and she began to stack them neatly at the corner of the room despite V's and Seven's warning of not touching anything she was not supposed to. She was told that upon accepting the responsibility as the new coordinator, she will be receiving emails from potential guests and be the to-go person from that point onward. The least she could do then was to clean up the otherwise neat room as a show of respect to the dead if she was going to be stucked in the apartment for the time being.

She typed goodbye to the group and the chat room disappeared almost instantaneously. Text messages of good wishes welcoming her to the organisation began to flood in and she took her time to reply, her mind still trying to process the awkward situation that she had put herself in. She scanned through her contact list and called the first number that came up to her. The line rang three times before connecting through to a mischievous voicemail. She waited for the _beep_ that usually comes with the voicemail and when nothing happened, she decided to talk into her phone anyway.

"Hello? This is Mina," She paused hesitantly before continuing incredulously in a tone that she usually save for her youngest sibling. "Mayday mayday, come in star command! I am about to be hit by an upcoming meteorite, send in reinforcement! My coordinate is x,y 18-12, can you copy me star command? This may be my final voyage and if I do not make it out alive… please let my family know that I died a tragic hero with no hope for salvation, over."

The line went dead and she snickered to herself. That ought to teach Seven for having such a ridiculous voicemail and assessing her college profile (not to mention telling everyone she is an actually female) without her consent. She was however mildly impressed with his hacking ability though, never thought she would have the opportunity to converse with one.

Setting her phone aside, she began to wonder around the apartment in hope of looking for an alternate exit from the cold apartment. Surely they have not expected her to actually live in this apartment, did they? She had a life to go back to, a perfectly fine paying job and a college to graduate from. Even if she lived by herself, someone would bound to find her missing presence very alarming and contact her parents who are living overseas due to her untimely disappearance. Work will not be very accommodating with her sudden leave of absence as well. There was so much at stake, the least they could do was help get her home.

The apartment was rather huge considering its location in the heart of Seoul. It has two bedrooms, a decent size kitchenette that connects into the living room and the laundry area and two bathrooms at both ends of the corridor. The rooms were painted in soft colours and the master bedroom have a window that takes up the whole wall and a small balcony just outside it. Mina drew up the blinds and was greeted with a beautiful sight of the Han River and bridges that connect to the either side of the river banks. The afternoon sun poured into the dimly-lit room and she marvelled at the artistic architecture of the surrounding buildings around her. Wanting to take a closer peak at the river, she reached out for the glass window and pulled it. It would not budged.

That was when her phone began to ring.

"Hello?" she called out.

"Brrr brrrr…" the noise was loud and she struggled to make out the voice at the end of the line.

"Hello?" she called out again, much louder than before.

The noise died down and a serious, heavily-accented voice spoke, "Your bank account has been used for a fun prank."

Mina promptly let go of the sliding door and walked out into the hallway.

"Were you aware of this?" The mysterious person continued to speak. "I must confirm your cell phone number to verify your identity so please calm down and follow the instructions."

She tried to stifle her laughter and put on her very best mystified voice. "Oh my god, what should I do? Do you want me to input my number in or tell you over the phone? What prank was it?" Clearly, she had inherited her mom's innate talent of making everything sounds horrifyingly dramatic.

The voice immediately responded. "Please calm down gullible customer."

 _Gullible?_

"... and take a deep breath. Breath in… breath out… breath in…"

She played along and took in three slow, deep breaths.

"Good girl," the voice preened in satisfaction. She could almost envisage the person's cheeky smile at the end of the line. She barely knew him and yet she felt the instant affinity for him already.

"You must be collected at times like this. Now if you've taken in deep breaths, please go ahead and say I love you."

"..."

The voice sensed Mina's discomfort but pressed on anyway. "You know, like how teddy bears say it."

She leaned against the wall and thought back on how her little sister would talk to her bear.

" _Honey I love you_ ~"

There was a short pause of breath from the end of the line and she could feel the person tried his best to find his footing after her short outburst of cuteness. She instantly felt her face flushed from embarrassment and she covertly hide her face with her palms.

"Hahahaha…" the voice burst out in laughter. "God… that was so cute. Stop hiding behind your hand."

 _Hand?_

She looked around the room, half expecting a shadow to jump out at her.

"Oops, em...,' the voice stammered and coughed. Mina waited for him to calm down.

"Now, I will confirm your phone number. Please tell me your phone number."

"Zero one…" she began cheekily.

"...Stop! You were about to tell me your phone number didn't you?" The voice sounded exasperated. "You can't do that! There are so many scams out there right now. If you receive a call like this from now on, don't even think and just hang up. And if you are unsure, just call me okay? I'll check for you even if I am busy."

"Oh but will I do if it is the actual bank that calls me?"

"God, with Rika's apartment and all...you're...you're so gullible!"

There it was again. _Gullible._ She pouted. As if she needed more reminder of how gullible she could be.

"Why did you just call me then?" She asked. Her tone went dead cold.

"I just called to check if this is the right number and it was me so nothing happened. But if this were a real scam, a scary hacker could have taken all your money! The moment you received that call, you will lose all your money, okay?"

Mina sighed dejectedly, submitting herself to her unfortunate fate. "All right, I understand. Is this punishment for that voicemail I left earlier today?"

"Mmm… It was cute though. I didn't know you were into Toy Story."

"So…" she drawled, "You did lied about not having the voicemail! Were you listening through it all? Now that I think about it, it doesn't sounds very recorded after all..."

"Oops," Seven laughed out loud. His laughter was addictive. Mina soon found herself easing into the conversation and laughing earnestly alongside with the peculiar man. It had been so long since she had such a good laugh. "Did you just trick God Seven?!" he asked in shock.

"Oh I wouldn't dare," she played along. "But I would give anything just to be bestowed by your blessing oh mighty God Seven."

"Of course milady, God Seven is here to help! To infinity..."

"- and beyond!" Mina ended his sentence with glee. "Please get me out of here God Seven!"

"Out?" She could hear the confusion in his voice. "What do you mean?"

"I am not able to leave the apartment that I am currently locked in."

Seven chuckled. "You mean _trespassed_."

Mina rolled her eyes. "No, _locked in_ ," she insisted. "Could you please save this poor soul from this awful predicament? I have classes later tonight and I need to prepare for my shift for work tomorrow as well. I need all the blessing I can get."

"Ohhhhh what a hardworking soul," Seven exclaimed. "Roger that my sweet follower, I have rewrite the entire security system of this apartment. You may come and go as you please. I will text you the passcode after this and you will be able to enter this apartment as you like. Remember though, you must at least come back once a day to ensure you are receiving the emails from the potential guests for the party."

"Aye aye God Seven," Mina replied with a mock salute. She blushed when she realised she was being ridiculous to no one but herself.

"Not a problem! Anyway I have double checked your phone number and I will let the rest of the members know. Now, if you get a call from this app, you'll see the faces of the members so try talking to them! You'll be hearing from them often from now on."

She understood where he was coming from and mouthed a quick yes.

"Please take care of RFA okay? Looking forward to the party! Bye bye," and he hung up.

Mina checked the app and sure enough, the text came through and soon she was out of the apartment and on her way to her night classes. She tried her best replying to the rest of the text messages, especially the ones from YooSung and Zen as they seemed to be within the same age range.

She returned to her place that night, exhausted and lethargic from her usual routine and she longed for nothing more than a fresh warm bath and a good night sleep. Chat rooms popped up the entire day and she had more fun than she had in years chatting with the bunch of strangers who she had never even met in her entire life. She was just about to reply to Jumin's chat when a text from Unknown popped up on her screen:

 _It'll be really fun from now on. Enjoy your time with everyone. I'll go get you soon._

Mina gulped and stared at the bright yellow text. For some reason his text alone seemed to provoke fear onto her usual calm self. Willing herself to ignore the fear, she mustered her courage to reply and went to sleep. She will need to let the boys know of the message the first thing in the morning. For now, the bed calls.


End file.
